QFINANCE: financial news roundup (January 3 - 9, 2014)

Each week QFINANCE.com brings you some of the biggest news stories from the past five days in finance and business – essential reading to keep you up to date with the latest topics.

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Thursday January 9The Reserve Bank of India has eased its gold lending rules, meaning that non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) can now lend up to 75% of the value of gold, the BBC reported. The World Gold Council ranks India 11th in the global ranking for gold holdings by central banks.

In an effort to enhance transparency, China’s major banks have been asked to publish data on 12 key indicators including off balance sheet assets, the BBC reported. This is in line with the Basel Committee rules on international banking regulations, which instruct that this data be published within in four months of the end of each financial year.

Wednesday January 8A domestic energy revolution is underway in the US, Forbes reported, which already seems to have triggered a decline in the country’s fiscal deficit.

Described by the Guardian as an attempt to “bypass” the new European Union rules on capping bankers’ bonuses, HSBC has announced plans to hand out multimillion pound share awards to 1,000 members of its to staff. Earlier this week, the Guardian reported that Barclays is also expected to offer additional shares to its top directors.

Tuesday January 7UK’s GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2013 could be as high as 0.9%, the British Chambers of Commerce’s (BCC) Quarterly Economic Survey (QES) revealed earlier this week. “It is a fantastic to start the New Year with a very positive quarterly survey”, Director General of the BCC, John Longworth said.

Monday January 6“India is producing almost as many medicines for the UK as those manufactured within Britain itself”, the FT reported earlier this week. Newly released figures revealed the growing influence of Asia in the global pharmaceuticals market.

The EU will ease financial reforms so that large banks will not be forced to split their lending operations from risky trading, the FT announced on Monday. Digital Look suggested that the move will be “less costly and restrictive than first envisaged".